"Not everybody who is homeless will go to a shelter," said Kevin MacLean, director of homeless services at Our Father's House in Fitchburg.

Instead, he said, many of the homeless, who often suffer from mental illness and substance-abuse issues, will avoid dropping temperatures by illegally camping in vacant buildings.

Just how many of Fitchburg's roughly 200 vacant buildings are home to squatters is hard to estimate, but MacLean said numbers appear to be increasing.

MacLean said he is aware of 12 buildings in the city that are inhabited by squatters and expects to see a jump as the weather cools.

You might not know it from outside, but this home on Pacific Street in Fitchburg has been used by squatters.

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"If I know of 10, there's probably 20," he said.

Efforts by the city of Fitchburg to move people out of homeless camps, including the dismantling of several camps Friday in the quarries on Rollstone Hill, may also be driving people inside or to nearby communities, MacLean said.

"If people are staying in these camps and you close these camps, they're going to move into buildings," he said.

MacLean said Leominster has fewer properties where people live illegally, although the city's homeless population is changing with some reports of people from Fitchburg's homeless population moving to Leominster.

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Leominster interim Police Chief Michael Goldman said he receives "not more than a few calls a year" reporting squatting, and Director of Public Health Christopher Knuth said he recalls one removal where squatters were actually present in the past four or five years.

Finding evidence of squatting is more common than actually encountering the residents, but it's still infrequent, Knuth said.

Both Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale and Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella agreed squatting can be a hazard to both property and residents.

The personal items of a squatter can be seen in this vacant home on Pacific Street in Fitchburg. COURTESY photo

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"We're sensitive to it, particularly when it contributes to the potential for criminal activity," DiNatale said.

Public officials initially suspected squatters might be to blame for the early Monday morning fire at B. F. Brown School on Academy Street in Fitchburg. Although the investigation is now looking at other causes, this is not the first time the homeless population has come under suspicion following a fire.

A building at 6 Hale St. in Fitchburg burned in January 2013 the day after the city ordered the building secured from vandals and vagrants. Squatters have been cited as suspects in at least five other fires in Fitchburg dating back to 1997.

MacLean said fires started by squatters are infrequent because they usually take care of the building they are inhabiting.

However, when a vacant structure does burn, firefighters have no way of knowing if anyone is inside, Mazzarella said.

"If these people are in there, we have no idea," he said.

In addition to potential fire hazards that are created by squatters, DiNatale said people illegally inhabiting buildings can cause property damage and the buildings can provide something of a safe haven for various types of criminal activity.

Both cities ask owners of empty buildings to ensure all windows, doors, pipes and other possible entrances are secured.

Knuth and Stephen Curry, Fitchburg's director of public health, said problems arise when property owners, often large banks, are unresponsive.

"A lot of the time when a house is abandoned, we have to figure out who owned it," Knuth said, adding that a registration system for foreclosures makes this process easier.

Fitchburg has about 300 buildings, not all of which are empty, in various stages of foreclosure. The number of foreclosures is on the decline but not significantly, Curry said. Leominster has had 67 foreclosures this year.

If a property owner doesn't respond to requests to secure a building, the city can contract the work and put a lien on the property for the cost, according to Curry. The city can also take legal action to hold property owners responsible and, since late last year, both cities have received assistance from the state Attorney General's Office.

DiNatale said he believes the city should take action to limit squatting and homelessness.

"Fitchburg is not going to turn away from our responsibility to taxpayers," he said.

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